Broiler burner



July 28,1959 EH1. WE'BER BROILERiBURNER Filed Aug. 4, 1954 ilnited States Patent Q BROILER BURNER Earl J. Weber, Bay Village, Ohio, assignor to American Gas Association, Incorporated, New York, N. a corporation of New York Application August 4, 1954, Serial No. 447,744

2 Claims. 01. 158-99) This invention relates to broiler burners for use in domestic gas ranges.

The desirable characteristics in a domestic gas range broiler arrangement are rapid preheat and even distribution of heat over as great an area as possible. Due to the fact that the gas broiler burner is located above the broiler pan, with the flue outlet slightly above the burner level, the broiling operation depends, to a great extent on heating by radiation rather than by convection. In the conventional gas broiler arrangement, the burner is in the form of a pipe or conduit extending in a horizontal plane and having ports directed generally downward, and a mixture of fuel gas and air is supplied to the burner. The burner is configured horizontally to define a substantial area, and a relatively great number of ports are provided. The ignited fuel gas-air mixture produces rather small blue flames at the ports. In the average conventional broiler, the time required for preheating to 600 F. is about 13 minutes. The average area of the pan over which the heat is distributed is about 128 square inches. The average input rate is about 17,000 B.t.u. per hour.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel gas broiler burner which is superior to the conventional broiler burner in respect to rapid preheat and even distribution of heat over a large area, and which has other advantages over the conventional burner as hereinafter set forth.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a gas broiler burner which is of novel construction and which utilizes luminous flames to provide a high degree of radiant energy so as to achieve results heretofore unattainable.

In accordance with the invention, a gas broiler burner is provided which employs a small hollow burner head having spaced ports arranged circumferentially about the head and directed horizontally in a horizontal plane above the broiler pan. Fuel gas free of mixed air is. supplied to the head, and the ignited gas burns in luminous flames extending radially from the ports. Horizontal baflle plates are provided above and below the ports, the upper plate serving to provide flame stability as well as flame carryover on ignition, and thelower plate serving to stabilize the flames by shielding them from food vapors resulting from the broiling operation.

The invention may be fully understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section through the broiler compartment of a gas range, showing the gas broiler burner of the present invention in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a substantially full-scale vertical sectional View taken centrally through the broiler burner; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the broiler burner is shown in Fig. 1 in association with the broiler pan 11 which is supported on shelf 12 within the broiler compartment 13. The broiler burner 10, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprises a small hollow burner head 14 which is preferably cup-shaped as shown and which is internally threaded at its upper portion to receive the threaded end of a fuel gas supply pipe 15. The burner head is also preferably cylindrical, and it is provided with equally spaced ports 16 which extend horizontally and radially through the wall of the burner head. Above the ports 16 there is a baffle plate 17 which may take the form of a relatively thick flange or disk. Below the ports 16 there is a baffle plate 18 which may take the form of a relatively large and thin disk secured to a ring 19 which surrounds and is secured to the lower end portion of the burner head. It should be noted that Fig. 2 is a fullscale illustration of a. preferred embodiment, and from this it can be seen that the head 14 is quite small.

In operation, the supply pipe 15 supplies fuel gas free of mixed air to the small hollow burner head 14, and the ignited gas produces luminous flames four to five inches long which extend radially and horizontally from the ports 16. Combustion depends entirely on secondary aeration. Port velocity is maintained low enough so that the flames burn right on the ports. The velocity should be low enough so that it will not cause the flames to lift off of the ports which would result in some degree of premixing of air with the fuel gas and thus reduce the luminosity of the flames. At the same time, the port velocity should be high enough to provide good secondary aeration and, hence, good combustion. The tWo baffles serve the purposes hereinbefore mentioned.

A gas broiler burner of the character provided by this invention not only gives very rapid preheat and a large amount of radiant heat evenly distributed over a large area, but it also has other advantages. With such a burner, there is a broad span of heats and the input rate can be burned down to an extremely low value, e.g. 160 B.t.u. per hour, without extinguishing the flames. This enables the burner to serve additionally as its own pilot, eliminating the need for ignition each time the burner is used. A further advantage is that the broiling is smokeless and is evenly distributed over the surface of the food being broiled. Another advantage is that heat released to the kitchen is materially reduced.

By way of example, in the physical embodiment shown full scale in Fig. 2, the burner head has an overall height of 1% inch, an outside diameter of inch, an inside diameter of inch, and a wall thickness of A3 inch. Spaced evenly around the circumference of the burner head are twelve No. 57 DMS ports, the angular spacing between the ports being 30. The upper baffle plate is 2% inches in diameter and has a thickness of inch. The lower baffle plate is formed of No. 18 gauge steel and has a diameter of 4 inches. The upper bafile plate is located inch above the port level indicated by the dot and dash line, while the lower baffle plate is located inch below the port level. This burner is rated at 14,000 B.t.u. per hour, and at this rating the heat is disbeen illustrated and described, the invention is not limited thereto but contemplates such modifications and further embodiments as may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim: 1. A broiler burner adapted to effect preheating and 3 even distribution of heat over alar ge area, comprising a hollow burner head, means to feed fuel gas under pressure and unmixed to the burner head, said burner head having no ontlehopenings other than -spaced-p0rts -with their axes arranged circumferentially substantially in ,a horizontal plane through-whichvf uel gas unmixed with air is adaptedto passtwhereby theignitedgas burns in spaced luminous yellow flames ofs ubstantial length extending radially from saidports, a substantially imperforate upper baflie parallel to the {plane of the ports and extending laterally a sufiicientdistance on all sides of said burner head and abo-ve said ports to collectvand hold unignited gases for enhancing flame carry-over on ignition andfor stabilizing thefiames, said upperbaflie having a diameter at least twice as-great as the diarneter of said burner head, and a substantial-ly igmperforate lower baflie parallel to the upper bafile and -below said ports, said lower baflle extending further laterally'on all sides of said burner head than said upperlba-f ef orstabilizing the flames by shielding themfromiood vapors resultingfrom the broiling operaburner headdiameterand the lower bafile has adia meter inthe order of six times the burner, head diameter.

7 References Cited inthe'file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 21,053 Randall July 27, 1858 601,426 Buerkle Mar. 29, 1898 1,083,496 Keibel Jan. 6, 1914 2,114,848 Long et-al. Apr. 19,1938 2,729,286 Strobel Jan. 3, 1956 melt 

